


Eleven

by kimatasyoya



Category: X1 (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Best Friends, Childhood, Childhood Friends, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-19
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:41:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21859231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kimatasyoya/pseuds/kimatasyoya
Summary: Yohan wants to befriend the new kid in the neighborhood, but is too shy to make the first move.
Relationships: Kim Yohan & Lee Hangyul, Kim Yohan/Lee Hangyul
Comments: 13
Kudos: 72





	1. Five

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Thank you for stopping by! This is my first ever AO3 work, so advance apologies for every imperfection, enjoy!

***

“Goal!”

The sound woke Yohan up from his deep sleep. He squinted his eyes after realizing the sunlight has made its way through the curtains. He looked up to see the round clock hanging on the walls.

7AM.

The 5-year-old then sat himself on the bed and looked around his room to identify the source of noise. He was sure it didn’t come from his baby sister who was probably soundly sleeping in his parents’ room. His room was on the 2nd floor, his parents’ were on the 1st.

He stood up and made a few steps towards a huge window in his bedroom, directly facing the front yard. He slightly opened the curtains and looked down to find a boy playing football with himself just outside of his front yard.

The boy is his age, or at least that’s how Yohan understood him. He’s a new kid. His family just moved into the neighborhood a week ago to a house a few meters away. The new family visited each of the houses in the neighbourhood yesterday to introduce themselves while giving out fruit parcels. Yohan knew his mother would ask him to introduce himself to the boy but he pretended to be asleep so he wouldn’t have to.

Yohan has always been shy since he was little. He never made any friends because most of the kids in the neighborhood are way above his age. There was one time when he dared himself to come up to the older boys because he wanted to play together. In the end, the older boys left him alone because he was too young to understand the games they were playing.

After that, he felt enough having his baby sister as a companion.

It was Yohan’s first time seeing a boy his age in the neighbourhood. Deep down, his heart urged him to make friends, but he was still afraid with the same kind of rejection he faced a few months ago.

A few minutes passed. Yohan was still standing behind the window.

Too deep in his thoughts, Yohan didn’t realize the boy he was staring at was also staring back at him this whole time.

***

The next day, Yohan found the kid playing in front of his house, again. Yohan actually wondered why the boy played exactly in front of his house, but he shrugged it off because was more interested in the ball he was playing. Yohan never had anyone to teach him play ball because his father was too busy working and going in and out of town.

He wanted to know what kind of ball the boy was playing with, so he decided to come out to the front yard to take a closer look. He stood before the fence and peeked through one of the holes.

It was a soccer ball, the one he saw in football games on TV, but it was smaller and probably made out of plastic. He made a mental note to ask his parents to buy him the same one later.

Yohan was too focused on the ball to the point that he wasn’t aware that his feet were making noises.

Yohan froze in his spot when he realised the boy noticed that he was being watched and made an eye contact. Yohan immediately turned away from the fence. He was about to make a run out of the situation when the boy called,

“H-hey!”

Yohan didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want to interact but he was too embarrassed to run away.

“I’m Hangyul.” the boy chirped.

Yohan carefully peeked through the same fence hole to find the boy staring at him with hopeful eyes. He contemplated on whether or not he should continue the conversation.

He never closed the door of making new friends, but his past was always there to haunt him. He recalled the faces of older boys who rejected him in the past. To his surprise, Hangyul looked nothing like them. He didn’t intimidate Yohan at all, and actually looked quite friendly.

Maybe, just maybe, this boy in front of him is worth taking a chance.

“I-I’m Yohan.”

He spoke softly behind the barrier. He could see the boy’s face lit up.

“I’m five, you?” the boy asked.

This somehow assured Yohan, a bit.

“I’m five too.”

It was silence for a couple of seconds before the boy stretched out his arms, offering the ball he was holding on to, asking the question Yohan had been waiting for.

“D-do you want to play?”

***

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you liked it please leave kudos and comments! Thank you so much :D


	2. Six

***

Almost a year after Hangyul had moved into Yohan’s neighborhood, they both started elementary school. They went to the same school a few blocks from where they live. They’d go to school, walk home, and play together in the roadside in front of Yohan’s house every day.

At school, Hangyul easily made friends. It was mostly contributed by his outgoing personality. Yohan, sadly, was quite the opposite. He had opened up to Hangyul—the best friend forever, self-proclaimed by Hangyul after only a month of knowing Yohan—but he still felt uncomfortable hanging around with other people, the reason being “Not everyone is like you.” everytime Hangyul tried asking him. He would watch Hangyul play with the other boys from the classroom window but will refuse whenever Hangyul approached him to go out and play together.

One day, Hangyul forcefully dragged Yohan out of the classroom

“What—No, I don’t wanna play!”

Yohan tried to release himself from his friend’s grip but he wasn’t strong enough to do so.

“The game needs one more person, we only have four!” Hangyul chirped.

“But—”

Yohan stopped talking immediately when he arrived in the middle of the field, with all three pair of eyes of Hangyul’s friends focusing on him. He wanted to run away but didn’t because one of the three boys handed him the ball he was holding before.

“Your turn.”

The simple gesture stunned Yohan. He didn’t know why. Someone just handed him a ball for him to play with. Nothing special, except for the fact that he had longed for this feeling for a long time. The feeling of being accepted, being acknowledged by a group of people without having to prove his worth. He didn’t have to introduce himself to them, and they didn’t bother to introduce themselves either. They just wanted to play with him.

That day, Yohan’s presence was a need, not a bother, like what he had gone through a couple years ago.

“Come on!”

Another boy from the group of three shouted from the side, making Yohan cut off his train of thought after a good minute. He then carefully put the ball on the ground, then kicked it to start the game.

After the game, the boys held out their hands and introduced themselves to Yohan.

Eunsang, Minhee, and Junho.

Yohan shyly shook their hands as he softly pronounced his name. He then turned his head to Hangyul for approval, finding him smiling proudly.

***

Every day, Hangyul was always ready in front of Yohan’s house exactly at 8 in the morning. He would shout Yohan’s name and the latter would come running with his mom still trying to fit his lunchbox in his little bag. Even when Yohan was already prepared to go, he’d wait for Hangyul to call his name before he stepped out of his house.

One day, Hangyul was late. As Yohan recalled, the longest delay of him waiting for his friend was 10 minutes. It was 8.15. Weird.

He decided to come out and see the surroundings.

There was still no sign of Hangyul.

Almost running late, he then went to Hangyul’s house to check on him.

Arriving in front of his friend’s house, he heard someone talking inside. He figured the person must talk really loudly for him to hear from this distance. He then shouted, “Hangyul-ah!”

Silence.

“Hangy—”

The sound of door opening was heard. A smile was formed on Yohan’s face seeing Hangyul stepping out of his house but it disappeared immediately after seeing his friend wiping his tears away instead of saying hi.

Hangyul’s face was red, his uniform sleeve was a bit wet from wiping his own tears. Even so, Hangyul ran to Yohan’s side and dragged him away from his house.

The two walked together to school just like every other day, but there was something different. Instead of telling each other stories of what they ate for dinner, teasing and shoving each other just like usual, it was quiet. Hangyul was usually the one starting the conversation, but he was silent. Yohan didn’t know what to do. He wanted to ask about the reason Hangyul was crying but he held himself back knowing he probably didn’t want to tell him yet.

“Yohan-ah.”

Surprisingly, Hangyul started the conversation. Yohan turned his head towards him, “Yeah?”

“Can we… take turns—I mean, can you be the one coming to my house... every morning instead of me going to your house… just for a few weeks maybe?”

Hangyul still has a faint of red drawn on his eyes, but he looked hopeful. Yohan wondered why his friend suddenly made this request. But without a second thought, Yohan nodded in approval. A smile bloomed in Hangyul’s swollen face, “Thanks.”

***

For three consecutive days, Yohan was the one stopping by Hangyul’s house before they go to school together.

The fourth day however, Hangyul’s mother was the one responding to the calls instead of him. She approached Yohan, bent down to caress his cheek, apologetically telling him that her son couldn’t go to school today. Yohan’s heart was heavy but he didn’t like asking questions. He bowed in front of Hangyul’s mother before deciding to go to school by himself.

At school, Yohan played with the other kids well. Hangyul had introduced Yohan to more of his friends and to Yohan’s pleasure, they seem to go well together with him. He once wondered why Hangyul’s friends were all kind, with no exception, just like Hangyul himself.

He found out that it’s given that people make friends with other people who had something in common between them, be it personality or interest. He sometimes recalled his past timid self to be grateful for his current, all because of his self-proclaimed—no, his best friend, Hangyul.

***

On the way home, Yohan decided to visit Hangyul’s house. He stopped by a small store to buy a honey cookie. Hangyul liked honey cookies. He remembered Hangyul munching on them every weekend when they were playing together.

He was about to pay when something in the cashier desk caught his eye. It was a simple wooden bracelet with black strings.

“Auntie, I’ll buy two of these please.”

Yohan figured he’d give something to his friend, to make him feel better of whatever the reason of his absence that day.

***

Arriving at the alley, Yohan stopped on his tracks. He was surprised to find Hangyul all by himself in front of his house.

“Lee Hangyul!”

Yohan shouted in excitement. Hangyul waved as Yohan ran towards him.

“What were you doing all by yourself? Outside?” Yohan asked worriedly as he put down his backpack on the bench in front of Hangyul’s house.

Hangyul faintly smiled, “Just needed some fresh air.”

Yohan stared at Hangyul for a few seconds as he pursed his lips, gathering the courage to ask the next question.

“Why didn’t you go to school?”

Hangyul looked a bit surprised by the question. But then again, it’s normal for Yohan to ask him, right? After all, this was the first time he broke the routine of spending the day together. Yohan has the right to know.

“I… I’m not sick… I… just don’t feel like going to school today.”

Before Yohan could ask anymore questions, Hangyul continued, “But let’s not talk about that, shall we?”

Yohan was taken aback by his response, but nodded anyway. Realizing he made the situation awkward, Hangyul continued the conversation, “So who did you play with today at school?”

Yohan’s eyes beamed at the mention of his other friends. He then told Hangyul how he played with his other friends, how Eunsang got hurt from tripping on a stone, and how Minhee managed to score two goals.

Hangyul stared at him for a good minute. He was smiling proudly hearing Yohan’s story, but deep down, he was a tiny bit sad that Yohan didn’t depend on him as much as he did back when there were only two of them.

Hangyul had self-proclaimed himself to be Yohan’s best friend a year ago, but he forgot that Yohan might not see him the same way.

“…but it really isn’t that fun without you.”

Yohan’s closing statement caught Hangyul off-guard.

“I mean, I’ve had fun all this time when we were playing together with the other friends, but I guess that’s just because you were also there…”

Yohan then pulled out the plastic bag filled with things he bought in the store a few minutes ago from his bag and took out the wooden bracelets.

“Here. Best friends should have something in common, you said we were best friends, right?”

Yohan held out his hand to give Hangyul one of the bracelets but looked away out of embarassment. Hangyul was stunned but he accepted the bracelet.

“I… I wanted to thank you, for introducing me to your other friends, for always playing with me… for… being my friend.”

All of Hangyul's doubts were vanished. He felt content that Yohan treasured his friendship as much as he did. Tears welled up in his eyes, “T-thanks, Yohan…”

Yohan slowly turned his head back to Hangyul. He wondered why Hangyul was crying but couldn’t help but smile seeing him liking the gift.

After settling the bracelet in his right wrist, Hangyul opened his arms, “Best friend hug?”

Yohan made a disgusted face but hugged him anyway.

***

The next morning, Yohan was surprised to find Hangyul already standing in front of his house… with his uniform!

He ran towards his best friend and punched him on the arms lightly, “You’re back to school already?”

Hangyul beamed, “Yeah!”

Yohan was a bit confused with the sudden change of mood from yesterday.

“Okay… but didn’t you say I should be the one stopping by your house before we go to school for the next few weeks?”

“Nah, forget about it.” Hangyul lightly tapped Yohan’s forehead and walked away.

After a few seconds of confusion, Yohan came back to his senses and ran to catch up with Hangyul's pace.

That day, they played and ate lunch at school, went back and bought some snacks home all together, just like the days before yesterday. Yohan was more than happy knowing he’ll be back to his routine with Hangyul from this day forward.

***

The next day was Saturday. Yohan came down from the stairs to ask his mother where his shoes were, but found no one in the living room. He always played with Hangyul around nine in the morning. It was five minutes before nine, so he tried searching by himself.

He was near the doorway when he noticed from the small window, that his parents were outside. They were standing side by side, looking at a certain direction, which Yohan believed was somewhere around Hangyul’s house.

He stepped out of his house barefooted and was ready to ask his mother on his shoes’ whereabouts but stopped immediately when he saw a big truck in front of Hangyul’s house. He approached his parents slowly and asked, “Why is there a truck in front of Hangyul’s house?”

Yohan was even more confused when he saw some big guys carrying furniture out of Hangyul’s house into the truck. “Who are they? Why are they taking things from Hangyul’s house?”

Yohan’s parents were silent. His mother wrapped her arms around Yohan’s shoulders from the back.

A few minutes later Hangyul was seen coming out of his house. Yohan smiled brightly and waved, “Lee Hangyul!”

Hangyul’s head perked up on someone calling his name. He noticed Yohan running towards him but his expression remained flat. The next thing Hangyul did, made Yohan stop running towards him.

Instead of waving back, he looked away, as if he saw nothing. He then continued walking towards the truck and made his way to the back seat.

Yohan was taken aback by Hangyul’s reaction. Hangyul had never ignored him. Not even once.Did he do something wrong? Did he say something offensive yesterday?

Yohan had no clue.

When the truck driver started the engine, Yohan slowly walked back to where his parents were, tears welling up in his eyes.

“Mom, where are they taking Hangyul?”

His mother couldn’t bear telling the truth, so all she did was hugging him.

The sound of truck moving made Yohan divert his attention back to Hangyul’s house. He ran towards the truck and shouted his best friend's name to only see the truck getting further and further away from his sight.

***

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter will fast forward to a few years ahead! I'll try my best to finish before the end of the year. Thank you for reading!
> 
> If you liked it please leave kudos! That way I know I did things right. I'd also love some feedback so if you may do leave comments too! Thank you so much!
> 
> p.s. hit me up on twitter if you want to, I'm @haneulyh :D


	3. Seventeen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Thank you for waiting for the update, I was on holiday the past few days and I couldn't write this as on time as I promised, but here it is!
> 
> p.s. there's gonna be a few references from the 2nd chapter so re-read them to enjoy this chapter better! :D

***

Eleven years later, Yohan became a high school student. He still lived in the neighborhood he grew up in. The high school he went to is in the other side of city, so he took the bus almost every day.

He joined the student board as a member in the first year and soon enough, he was the appointed head of the school student board at the start of sophomore year. He didn’t apply to be one, actually. But since no one wanted to apply and Yohan was the only member who is close with everyone, he was chosen by acclamation.

If the 4-year-old Yohan was brought from the past, he would probably deny the 17-year-old head of school student board was actually him. He was nowhere near social as a kid. He was very shy and secluded he couldn’t even talk to his friends without looking away every three seconds.

His habits started to change when he befriended a boy his age in his neighborhood. The boy who gained his trust, who dragged him out of his comfort zone.

It’s quite unlikely to think a 5-year-old boy can have that much impact to Yohan.

But to think of it, he _is_ the living proof of the impact. Because now, he didn’t even stutter giving speech in front of a whole bunch of people in his school.

All because of his long-lost childhood friend. His best friend, Hangyul.

Hangyul.

He hadn’t heard that name for eleven years.

Hangyul had never left his mind, but he never brought the name to conversation ever since _that_ incident. The incident that shattered his heart into pieces. The incident that he wished to erase from his memory.

He didn’t hold grudge, of course. He was grateful that Hangyul came into his life. But he wished that he would only remember happy memories with him, without the memory of the day they got separated.

Yohan still had the wooden bracelet on his right wrist after all this time. No matter how much his feelings hurt every time he saw it, he still wouldn’t erase the fact that the other owner of the bracelet has a huge part in shaping the person he is right now.

***

It was just another day of Yohan waiting for at the bus stop after he finished school. He had a quick meeting with the vice principal about the upcoming school events and signed a few documents before finally deciding to go home. It was dark already and he just couldn’t wait to take a hot shower and go to sleep.

He squinted his eyes when a ray of light crept up to the corner of his eyes. The bus had arrived. He tightened his bag strap and quickly jumped into the bus. He took a peek on the seats to find no one else riding the bus. He tapped his student card and took the front seat. He breathed out as he plopped his head on the headrest.

It was three stops before he had to get off the bus when someone else entered the bus. Yohan couldn’t help but notice because he was at the front seat. It was a guy wearing simple white t-shirt and jeans. Yohan assumed he was older, because one, he did look older, and two, he didn’t wear a school uniform on Monday. The guy chose to sit right behind him.

“Hi mom, it’s Hangyul.”

Yohan could hear the guy behind him talking on the phone. He glitched at the mention of the name of someone familiar to him.

Could it be? Could it really be him?

He hated himself for hoping. There could be hundreds of people named Hangyul in his country. What are the chances that the person he’s been looking for all his life, took the exact same bus, and sat exactly behind him right at this moment?

None, probably.

“I’m gonna be home late tonight to visit a friend. You don’t have to wait for me.” The guy said, still talking on his phone.

Yohan’s heart raced. He became nervous so suddenly. He wanted to look back to take a closer look at the person behind him to make sure the guy still has the same features of his long-lost friend he had remembered all this time.

But he held himself. What if he was wrong? He would just embarrass himself.

***

A few minutes passed and the bus arrived at Yohan’s stop.

_Last chance._

Yohan waited a couple seconds to see if the guy behind him would get off in the same stop. To his surprise, he did.

The guy stood up from his seat, thanked the driver and got off the bus. Yohan quickly followed suit. He felt his heart could escape his chest anytime soon.

As soon as he got off the bus, he called the person.

“E-Excuse me!”

The guy stopped on his tracks and looked back, “Yeah?”

Yohan paused for a few moments to study his facial features. He didn’t expect the guy to have almost exactly the same features as he remembered. He also noticed the exact same wooden bracelet on his left wrist.

It really was Hangyul. And it’s been eleven years. Eleven long years since he’d last seen him.

“Do you… know who I am?” Yohan clenched his fists in despair. He kept his space a few feet from where the guy stood.

The guy in front of him didn’t look interested at first, but his face immediately went pale after Yohan asked him.

The silence went on for a couple of minutes before Hangyul managed to breath out the air he had been holding for a good minute, “Yohan-ah.”

Yohan felt a lump in his throat. He wanted to let out everything he’s been holding all these years but he held back because it must also be overwhelming to Hangyul to suddenly meet him after eleven years.

Yohan asked, “So… uhm… how are you?”

“I-I’m good… you?”

“Me too.” He paused for a few seconds before he continued, “And… how’s life going for you?”

“Oh, umm… as you can see, I’m not wearing a uniform because I don’t… I don’t go to school anymore.” Hangyul looked down on his outfit. He noticed Yohan’s silence, as if he was asking him to continue. “I’m a trainee, now. I’m pursuing my career in music.”

Yohan gaped in surprise but nodded afterwards. He then prepared himself to ask _the_ question.

“So, what are you doing here?”

Yohan’s heart raced faster. He didn’t know if he was prepared for the answer.

“I’m here to see you.”

There it is. Yohan had expected the answer. He had waited this moment for a long time. But coming right from his long-lost friend’s mouth, he felt emotions piling up in his heart, he couldn’t help but to let it out.

“After eleven years, huh?” Yohan bit his lower lip to prevent himself from breaking down.

“Do you know that I waited in front of your house, expecting you to come out, every day for a whole month?! Do you know how hurt I was when you looked away the day you moved out, as if our friendship for the whole year was nothing?! You left me without a word…” Yohan stopped to swallow a huge lump in his throat, “Maybe to you I was just another friend, but to me you were—”

“Just another friend?!” Hangyul cut his words, he felt angry.

Yohan immediately pursed his lips together, surprised at Hangyul’s reaction.

“Do you know the reason the day I came out of my house crying? My parents were shouting at each other, every single day, debating on whether we should move out…”

Hangyul then explained that his father was offered a pay raise to work in the other side of the country, but his mother was against it. They had moved from house to house for 3 times since Hangyul was born, all because of his father.

“My mother wanted to stay because of me. She couldn’t bear seeing me struggling to adapt to another environment, especially after seeing that I finally got a friend that I truly treasure…” he hesitated for a couple of seconds, “After I got you.”

He paused and looked straight into Yohan’s eyes, “And then I gave up. I said I was willing to move away with them as long as they stop fighting. I didn’t want you to be sad so I did all the things I wanted to do with you on the last day we were together. I’ve prepared to bid my farewell to you on the day I moved out, but I couldn’t bear seeing your face for the last time—”

Hangyul stopped rambling after seeing tears welling up on Yohan’s eyes.

It was silence for a good five minutes. They both had tears streaming down on their faces. People passing by were giving them weird looks but they couldn’t care less.

“We’re such a mess.” Yohan broke the silence as he wiped his tears. “Why are we fighting, really? We’ve both waited to meet each other for the longest time, but when we’re actually reunited, we get on each other’s nerves.” He chuckled at the thought.

Hangyul couldn’t help but to let out a small laugh. He composed himself and let out a sigh of relief.

“So… best friend hug?”

Hangyul opened his arms and Yohan closed the distance between them.

They smiled in each other’s arms, remembering the first time they did the ‘best friend hug’ eleven years ago.

_Yohan pulled away from the hug and opened the plastic bag he used to buy the wooden bracelet, “I also bought you honey cookies. Here.”_

_Hangyul’s eyes beamed at the mention of honey cookies. “Thank you!”_

_He took the cookie away from Yohan’s hand and he was ready to eat it when he realized that Yohan had only bought one for him._

_“Yohan-ah.”_

_“Yeah?”_

_“Let’s eat this together.” Hangyul said as he split the cookie into two for his best friend._

_._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo... that's it!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading this! The reason I wrote this was because I wanted to express myself how much I treasure Yohan and Hangyul's real life friendship and I hope it stayed for a very very long time, even after the promotions end.
> 
> If you enjoyed this please let me know in the comments or leave kudos!
> 
> Also let me know if I should change anything since this was my first ever work on AO3 :D
> 
> See you soon!


End file.
